Huskies Top Allen For Title Scholastic Boys Basketball

December 31, 1985|by KEITH GROLLER, The Morning Call

When former Dieruff player Dan Kemeter took over as Husky boys' basketball coach last fall he said he wanted to put some people back in the stands and restore the school's proud basketball tradition. Based on last night's Allentown School District Holiday Tournament title game, Kemeter is reaching his goals.

Before a near capacity crowd in the East Side Gym, the Huskies rekindled memories of teams' past with an impressive 65-50 victory over crosstown rival Allen to claim the championship in the 9th Annual ASD holiday event.

"No one gave us much of a chance coming in here tonight, but I felt that we should have come into this game 8-0 instead of 4-4," said Kemeter. "This win is so important to our kids because it gives them confidence. If you can beat a great team like Allen, you can beat any team in the East Penn Conference. Before tonight, we've made the critical mistakes which make you lose ballgames."

Last night, Dieruff made few - if any - mistakes. As it turned out, the Huskies didn't even need a big game from center Alton Cannon to turn back the Canaries.

Cannon, who earned a spot on the all-tourney team with 37 points in Saturday's win over Pennsbury, sat out about half of the game in foul trouble. In Cannon's place, Mark Boyer played well with seven points and seven rebounds. He also held his own underneath in Dieruff's tenacious 2-3 zone defense which effectively clogged up Allen's inside game.

"I can't say enough about the job Mark did," said Kemeter. "We showed that we're a complete team with people like Mark who can come off the bench. He gave us a helluva basketball game."

But Boyer was not the only Husky hero:

Ron Lacey, who was named the tourney's MVP, scored 20 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out five assists and came up with several steals and loose balls. He also came from nowhere to record a handful of blocked shots which electrified the Husky fans.

About the only fault Kemeter could find with Lacey's game was a technical foul the senior guard picked up in the fourth quarter. "I don't want any of our kids to ever get technical fouls," said Kemeter. "I want them to keep their composure and play with respect."

Lacey certainly earned the respect of Allen early. His six first quarter points helped Dieruff overcome an early 6-0 deficit to take an 11-10 lead after one period. Then with Brian Rockmore getting five of his 15 points in the second quarter, the Huskies were able to hold a 25-22 halftime lead.

Andy Wescoe's outside shooting accounted for 12 Allen points in the first half, but Wescoe (22 points overall) joined the rest of his team in a cold spell during the third quarter. The Canaries hit just 3 of 18 shots from the floor and fell behind 37-28 heading into the final stanza.

Then during the break between periods, the Allen bench was hit with a technical and Dave Kistler's two foul shots started an 8-2 spurt which gave Dieruff a 45-30 lead with 5:48 to play and the Canaries could get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

"We just could never get into any kind of flow tonight," said Canary Coach John Donmoyer, whose club placed Wescoe and Shawn Erie on the all- tourney squad (Abington's Howard Burrell and Pennsbury's Paul McMullin also made it).

"Tonight was just Dieruff's night. They outhustled us. Now, we just have to regroup and hope we can do better when we come over here to play them again (Jan. 7).